About

A Pre-Licensing Vendor Design Review is an optional service provided by the CNSC when requested by a vendor.

A pre-licensing vendor design review is an assessment of a nuclear power plant design based on a vendor's reactor technology. The assessment is completed by the CNSC, at the request of the vendor. The words “pre-licensing” signifies that a design review is undertaken prior to the submission of a licence application to the CNSC by an applicant seeking to build and operate a new nuclear power plant.

This review does not certify a reactor design or involve the issuance of a licence under the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, and it is not required as part of the licensing process for a new nuclear power plant. The conclusions of any design review do not bind or otherwise influence decisions made by the Commission.

The objective of a review is to verify, at a high level, the acceptability of a nuclear power plant design with respect to Canadian nuclear regulatory requirements and expectations, as well as Canadian codes and standards. These reviews also identify fundamental barriers to licensing a new design in Canada and assures that a resolution path exists for any design issues identified in the review.

A vendor who has completed a phase 2 pre-licensing vendor design review, has committed to increased regulatory efficiencies at the time of licensing. The results of Phase 2 will be taken into account mainly for the Construction Licence Application and is likely to result in increased efficiencies of technical reviews.

The reviews take place in three phases, each of which is conducted against related CNSC regulatory documents and Canadian codes & standards:

Phase 2: Pre-Licensing Assessment for Any Potential Fundamental Barriers to Licensing: This phase goes into further details with a focus on identifying any potential fundamental barriers to licensing the vendor's nuclear power plant design in Canada.

Status of Pre-licensing Vendor Design Reviews

Participating vendors and their review completion dates are outlined below. Please note that planned completion dates for current reviews may be adjusted as needed by mutual agreement.

Current pre-licensing vendor design reviews

The following table presents an overview of vendors who have applied for pre-licensing engagement with the CNSC using the vendor design review process for their new reactor designs. Vendor design review is described in guidance document GD-385, Pre-licensing Review of a Vendor's Reactor Design. The duration of each review is estimated based on the vendor’s proposed schedule. A Phase 1 review typically takes 12–18 months and a Phase 2 review takes 24 months.

At the end of the review for each phase, an executive summary of the project report will be posted on this Web page.

Vendor

Name of design and cooling type

Approximate electrical capacity (MW electrical)

Applied for

Review start date

Status

Terrestrial Energy Inc.

IMSR
Integral Molten Salt Reactor

200

Phase 1

April 2016

Phase 1 complete

Phase 2

December 2018

Phase 2 assessment in progress

NuScale Power, LLC

NuScale
Integral
Pressurized Water Reactor

50

Phase 2*

April 1, 2019

Service agreement signed. Assessment pending

Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation / Global First Power

MMR-5 and
MMR-10
High Temperature Gas

5-10

Phase 1

December 2016

Completion expected October 2018

Phase 2

Pending late 2018

PHASE 2 Service Agreement in place – Project start pending

Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC

eVinci Micro Reactor
Solid core and heat pipes

Various outputs up to 25 MWe

Phase 2*

Pending early 2019

Service agreement under development

LeadCold Nuclear Inc.

SEALER
Molten Lead

3

Phase 1

January 2017

Phase 1 on hold at vendor's request

Advanced Reactor Concepts Ltd.

ARC-100
Liquid Sodium

100

Phase 1

Fall 2017

Assessment in progress

URENCO

U-Battery
High-Temperature Gas

4

Phase 1

To be determined

Service agreement under development

Moltex Energy

Moltex Energy Stable Salt Reactor

Molten Salt

300

Series Phase 1 and 2

December 2017

Phase 1 assessment in progress

SMR, LLC. (A Holtec International Company)

SMR-160 Pressurized Light Water

160

Phase 1

July 2018

Assessment in progress

StarCore Nuclear

StarCore Module
High-Temperature Gas

10

Series Phase 1 and 2

To be determined

Service agreement under development

*Phase 1 objectives will be addressed within the Phase 2 scope of work.